Set your troubled hearts at rest. Trust in God always

Dear Friends,

‘Set your troubled hearts at rest. Trust in God always.’

And so, we find ourselves well into quarantine/lockdown/self-isolation. It is quite likely that by now we have adapted to some form of routine. There is a sense in which are just settling down, waiting for it all to be over. We are trying to keep busy, to amuse ourselves, to make the best of it. For some of us, maybe just a few of us, this will prove to be a liberating time; an opportunity for decluttering in every way. Or a time for taking stock; being able to realise just what is important to us, what is necessary, what is vital. But for many of us it will be nothing of the sort, it will just be a case of counting the days, watching the clock. By now, we are all to a degree staring to get bored with it all…

…This is particularly true if we are as it were ‘removed from the frontline’. Even though the raw statistics make for shocking reading it is still more likely than not that we have not had, nor will have any direct contact with the virus ourselves, or indirectly through people we know. There is a danger that we start to wonder what all the fuss is about’, and start to ‘drop our guard’, relax our discipline, and fail to be as careful as we should be…Please stay vigilant until told otherwise…

…But there are some of you who are ‘in the eye of the storm’: you will know people who have contracted the virus; they may have recovered, but they may not have. Some of you will have family members working in the NHS, ‘on the front line’ as it were and naturally, you will be anxious for them. You will know of those who have to continue to work just so that we can continue to survive, often in difficult and dangerous circumstances. You will know of those who have to work, just to pay the bills. The overworked slogan, ‘we are all in this together’ really is important here. We have to continue to be supportive of one another, whatever our personal situation might be…

…Last weekend, the clocks went forward an hour and already the difference this has is making is evident. The days are lengthening. Daylight is now stretching into the evening. Spring really is in the air. Nature is replenishing herself before our very eyes, and living where we do this is a great encouragement to us at this time…

…This coming Sunday is Palm Sunday, the beginning of Holy Week, leading up to the celebration of Easter, the heart of our faith as Christians. The God who raised Jesus from the dead is the God who in and through the Holy Spirit is enlivening everyone of us. It may not seem like it, we may not feel like it, nevertheless, if we dare to believe it, even at a time such as this we can ‘rejoice and be glad’…